|
No more "hoodies" for Marcus
Camby. (AP) |
NBA players will be fined unless they dress as
slick as they play.
The league announced Tuesday that it is mandating a new dress code
intended to do away with hats, chains and headphones.
"What we came up with is a dress code that even Mark Cuban could comply
with - if he wanted to," joked NBA commissioner David Stern, referring to
the oft-fined and
casually-garbed owner of the Dallas Mavericks.
Although fines for dress-code violations have yet to be determined,
Stern said: "The union's fine with it. It's quite liberal and easygoing."
Players must wear either a suit or casual business attire, namely dress
shirts, designer jeans, slacks, shoes and socks, when involved in league
or team business.
Moreover, inactive or injured players require a sport coat to sit at
the bench during games.
"This is a job and we want to have fun," Cleveland Cavaliers guard
LeBron James said. "But it's a job and we should look like we're going to
work."
Wearing trendy clothing like replica jerseys, sleeveless shirts, shorts
and work boots is now prohibited, as is wearing caps, bandanas, toques, sunglasses (indoors) and listening
to headphones (unless arriving for a game or in the locker room).
In other words, the players will no longer resemble their fans.
"We don't really sell to big business," Phoenix Sun guard Raja Bell
argued. "We sell to kids, and people who are into the NBA hip-hop world.
"They (the NBA) may be marketing to the wrong people with this."
"We have a minimum standard that we've set that reflects on the
professionals in our sport, and you're going to do it," Stern countered.
"We're certain that it will be complied with."
(Agencies)
|